Stars on Fire
by karlanemperor
Summary: As the Frontier prepares to escape from their nemesis, an unexpected event launches them into a universe in need. Will they be able to save mankind or will mankind perish under the onslaught of the alien menace?
1. Chapter 1

"Initiate the seventh long distance space fold jump" ordered president Howard Glass as the main gun of the battle 25 space warship finished its firing sequence and cleared the immediate area of the remaining Vajra invaders

**Stars on Fire**

**Chapter 1: Arrival and first contact**

"Initiate the seventh long distance space fold jump" ordered president Howard Glass an old fifty plus year old man, with white hair and a white mustache, as the main gun of the Battle Frontier space warship finished its firing sequence and cleared the immediate area of the remaining Vajra invaders.

Immediately after which the entire bridge of the massive space vessel became a hot bed of activity, as the various stations of the massive vessel reviewed the information given to them and prepared the massive Frontier convoy for the extreme undertaking that would be jumping the entirety of the huge convoy into the alternate dimension known as fold space. As the stations began giving the confirmation signal one by one, the massive space fold engines of the Frontier became alive and began rupturing the space-time continuum of real space and created a strangely beautiful pink hued vortex through which the millions of tons of the convoy began to pass.

Beyond the pink-colored veil of the space-fold window laid a blue-purple ripple like tunnel through which the massive vessel and its escorting convoy appeared to move, always moving towards a purple-pink gigantic source of light that was always in front of the vessel, and yet the vessel never seemed to reach.

However once the massive vessel made the full transition to the other dimension which was fold space a massive tremor rocked the gigantic construct.

"Report!" ordered the Commodore in command of the Battle Frontier, as he attempted to remain steady during the severe turbulence that was rocking the vessel.

"Unknown fold-space anomaly" yelled one of the bridge operators, as the entire room was rocked yet again tossing several of the bridge officers off their chairs.

"Sir The ship cannot last more than a couple of minutes the stress will tear her apart" informed another office who had just regained his place, and tried to read the extreme amounts of information being presented to him as the ship was rocked once again.

"How long until we reach the designated space-fold coordinates?" asked the president trying to remain in his place despite the serious movement being experienced.

"Impossible to determine" Yelled one of the bridge officers. "Fold-space navigation controls and sensors are not responding"

"Damn it!" Said the president as he punched the arm rest of his chair, and looked at the bridge with rage clearly engraved in his face.

"Can we contact the engine room?" asked the Commodore, as he too observed with powerless rage as the vessels rocking intensified.

Another tremor rocked the ship, and several consoles exploded, sending several bridge officers flying, their blood splattered on the wall as if recreating a macabre work of art carved by the Grim Reaper as he sensed a moment in which to fulfill his role.

The rocking continued, and the bridge officers and crew members struggled to remain in their stations and try to solve the problem. "Commander, the engine room is asking for permission to cut off the main dri..Aahhh!" yelled another bridge member as his console exploded and he was quickly sent to the far side of the bridge.

Without thinking twice the Commodore pushed the communication button on his console. "This is the Commander. Cut off the main drive! Repeat! Cut off the main drive!" where the orders of the Commodore, who was then flung from his chair and sent to the wall, where he passed out from severe head trauma.

For a couple of seconds the entire crew held their breaths, hoping that the Commodores orders had gone through and that they would live, while at the same time holding against the extreme turbulence that rocked the ship. Then what everyone hoped for occurred, the turbulence ceased and the convoy was once again flung into real space.

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Several hours later president Glass sat at his office, looking at the after action reports. His office which was supposed to be the very image of order and organization was anything but. The furniture lay sprayed in haphazard manners and destroyed in many others, the many books in his personal collection where all on the floor, and the libraries themselves where little more than splintered wood, that his desk and chair had survived with barely a scratch was nothing short of a miracle.

The reports themselves where even less promising, and not much different from the state of his own office. The casualty report was high, close to two thousand people, between human and even full Zentraedi had died. Close to four times that were injured and the disappeared list rivaled the dead one. The damage to the frontier and its accompanying convoy of vessels and arcologies was extensive, and would take substantial time to repair.

The president turned around in his chair and looked through the hole which had once held an old design of a window, yet was now slightly more than a hole through the wall. Through it the reports became crystal clear. The buildings which had once ruled the view from the presidential office where completely destroyed, uncontrolled fires still raged unchecked, and the sounds of distant fire and police sirens could be heard in the distance.

The sky which was usually blue thanks to the advanced climate control systems was red due to the increased temperature and the fires which tinted the ambient with their crimson and all consuming fury, as fire crews fired a difficult struggle against the forces of nature which manifested themselves even in a manmade environment.

Suddenly there was a tap on the door and the president turned to look at what was left of his door. "It's me Mr. President" announced a calm and serene voice amidst the apparent chaos which engulfed the president's office.

"Come in" announced the president. Immediately afterwards a tall man, that at first sight looked more like a woman due to his shoulder length and cropped hair entered with several documents in hand. "I hope that you have some good news Mr. Mishima" said the president in a slightly annoyed tone.

Leon Mishima looked at the president with contempt for a second before getting closer. "I am afraid I have even worse news" said the man in a calm voice, as he passed the documents to the president.

For a few minutes the president looked at the documents that where in his hands and sighed trying to relieve some of the stress that was consuming him, and slumping into his chair. "So we have no idea where we are?" asked the president as he looked at the man looking over him.

"Unfortunately so Mr. President, as soon as we were able to restore our navigation sensors we checked the stellar formations surrounding us. We are unable to match any stars position with those on our charts, with only one notable exception"

"And that would be Earth, wouldn't it?" asked the president to which the man only nodded.

"That is correct Mr. President. Furthermore we have a major problem regarding supplies, unless we detect a sufficiently vast source of raw materials and living essentials, within two months we will run out of living supplies" stated Leon Mishima in a neutral tone.

"Humph, have we begun surveys of the nearby systems for the necessary supplies?" asked the president.

"We sent a number of vessels on immediate surveys as soon as they were deemed capable of folding. However we have no way of knowing how long until we hear any type of information from the surveys"

The president looked down at the documents at hand, and sighed once again. The early destruction and escape of the Vajra invaders had been rendered completely useless in the face of the destruction suffered during space fold operations, normally considered a safe and efficient method. Soon however the president was out of his reverie and looked at Leon Mishima in a very stern manner "Initiate stage three rationing throughout the fleet, we need to buy as much time as we need while we find the necessary resources"

"Understood Mr. President" said Mishima and turned to leave.

Before he could leave however the president stopped him. "What about our savior?"

Leon Mishima turned and looked at the president. "We have her under observation Mr. President. However given the circumstances we have decided to postpone the celebrations that where scheduled for her"

"Very well, keep me informed" said the president, and he saw the chief of staff leave through the damaged wall. "I hope the future holds better for us after such a tragedy" said the president as he continued to observe the destruction brought on by the strenuous fold jump.

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Alto Saotome a tall sixteen year old boy, with features that looked more like those of a woman stood in the briefing room of the SMS Macross Quarter, listening to the briefing of his superior officer regarding their new assignment.

At his side where his two best friends and comrades in arms, Michael Blanc a tall sixteen year old boy as well, with short cropped blonde hair, glasses and fair complexion, as well as Luca Angelloni, a short fourteen year old boy, with short red hair and an ever present cheerful attitude that belied his true capabilities.

All three of them where part of the SMS or Strategic Military Services, a privately operated military organization that was currently contracted by the Macross Frontier government. All three of them where paying attention to their commander as he explained their new assignment.

"As you all well know the seventh long range fold operation undertaken by the Macross Frontier was a complete disaster" began their commander Lee Ozma, a middle aged and gruff looking man, with very stern complexion and a hard look in his eyes. "This has resulted in the resources of the Frontier to be extended to the breaking point. Thus we have been contracted to help resolve the situation"

"To this end the Macross Quarter, with an escort of five ships from the Frontier fleet will immediately initiate a survey mission dedicated to locating the resources necessary to repair the Frontier and its ecosystem" said the Commander as a computer simulation showed the vessel, and it five escorts. "This vessel will travel to a nearby solar system and asses the resources present in the system, and how much can be used to restore the frontier".

The Commander then turned and looked at all the present pilots, and assessed their reactions. "Under normal circumstances this would have fallen within the government's jurisdiction, and they would have handled this menial task" said the Commander looking down at the floor and sighing. "However the Macross Quarter is one of the few vessels remaining that is capable of folding without a lengthy overhaul, any questions?" the Commander looked at everyone present and waited for any questions, none where asked. "None, well, we leave in two hours dismissed"

As the Commander dismissed everyone, they all left the briefing room, while Alto Saotome and his friends were left behind. Alto felt bored and depressed a fact that did not go unnoticed by his comrades, who were at his side. "Someone feels bad for not having time to see his girlfriends eh" said Michel Blanc with a smug and assured expression, clearly enjoying his victory over his friends.

"Oh, shut up" said Alto feeling even more annoyed at his friends antics as they laughed at his misfortune. "For your information I do not miss any of those two. Hmmm what a drag" he continued feeling a little angry at his supposed friends jokes. "What I can't understand tough is why the government cannot take care of these menial tasks? I mean, how many vessels are there really that require such a large overhaul?" he asked feeling superior to the menial task he had been assigned.

"Over three fourths of the fleet where damaged beyond fold-operation capability by the unknown space fold anomaly. That the Quarter survived in such a complete state is almost a miracle" said Luca Angelloni, looking at the floor feeling depressed by the information he was delivering to his friends.

All three friends looked at the floor, each one calculating differently the battered state of the Frontier fleet, and the extent of the damages. "In any case, this is an important mission and we can't mess it up" said Michael Blanc as he moved his glasses over the rim of his nose, and observed his two friends.

"Yes" was all that was said by his two friends who looked a little better despite their horrible situation.

"Well, I guess there's not much point in us staying around here feeling sorry for ourselves. Let's go" said Alto Saotome as he left the conference room with his friends behind him.

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Several hours later Alto Saotome looked out of the cockpit of his VF 25 Messiah, as he observed the blue sphere the fleet had come to survey in search of the necessary materials for the Frontier. As he continued on his flight path he looked at the Macross Quarter, lead ship in the small fleet.

The Macross Quarter was a large four hundred meter long vessel, which looked like it possessed two hands and two legs. In the legs were housed the massive nuclear fusion engines that propelled the craft as it slowly made its orbit around the blue sphere. At the front the two hands where very different. The right hand looked like an elongated flat topped pyramid, in it was housed the main cannon of the Macross Quarter, a powerful Quantum Reaction cannon, that created an incredibly powerful micro black hole that it then sent towards its target, the black hole would explode with a given target and be sucked in the powerful gravity generated by the unstable quantum singularity, while a massive gravity wave that was left in its wake shattered the target with powerful directed gravity waves. The left arm was a more conventional run way and storage for the two squadrons of fighters that made the force of the SMS, as well as the devastating Koenig Monster, a huge transformable craft became a powerful quadruple nuclear cannon artillery piece.

The main force of the SMS consisted of the VF 25 Messiah's, craft of their own design. Like all of the VF series fighters, the Messiah was a variable fighter, meaning that it could transform in mid flight to become a half-plane half-robot hybrid, with great VTOL and maneuvering capabilities or a fully fledged two legged robot, with great all around flexibility and if necessary hand-to-hand combat capabilities.

Alto Saotome thus sat in his own unique white and red variant Messiah as he boringly observed the planet they surveyed. At his side where his two friends in their own unique Messiah's. Michael's Messiah was a blue colored variant, and was equipped with a specialized long range cannon for sniping enemies, following his own motto of one shot with a girl or an enemy in his own words. His other friend Luca flew a green colored variant, with a large radome, or radar dome, used for advanced scouting, as well as electronic warfare, accompanied by his three escort shadow planes, autonomous fighter drones, that where slaved to the commands of Luca Angelloni, and served as his eyes and ears.

Alto thus was at the moment currently escorting Luca as he made the survey of the planet from a different perspective of the main vessels, a fact that greatly annoyed Alto. "How long is that going to take Luca? Being out here doing nothing is very boring you know" said Alto clearly expressing his irritation at his current assignment.

"A scan this detailed and important takes several hours you know Alto-sempai" said Luca in a defensive tone, trying to a peace his friend.

"He's just annoyed that he can't spend time with his princesses you know that Luca" said Michael interrupting their private conversation with his cheerful attitude.

Like you are one to talk" came the voice of a woman, as a large red and bulbous robot approached the three fighters. "I seem to recall that you offered some girl a date, and totally forgot about it the other day, she must surely be pissed by now" said the voice in a cheerful tone, but a subtle undertone of envy could be heard from the woman.

"You know that I can't go out with minors Captain Klan, it's against the law and could be seen as sexual harassment" was Michaels reply in a calm and confident voice.

Alto and Luca where laughing as Captain Klan screamed at Michael, who cringed with a smile on his face, as the blue haired woman unloaded all of her frustration at the blonde pilot. For a few minutes all of them had a good time even as the boring subject of the survey was temporarily off their minds. Yet all of that was fated to end.

"Cut it out you four!!" screamed Commander Ozma as he interrupted the reverie of the small group. "Where all here to do a job and we are going to do it well, you hear me!"

Faced with the Commanders wrath the four pilots immediately composed themselves and a wave of yes sirs could be heard though the communications channels. "Seriously, I expect more professionalism from all of you, especially you Captain"

"Yes sir" said Captain Klan in a depressed tone, even as the Commanders face calmed from its previous bout of anger.

"Very well, carry on" said the Commander, as he began to return to his own squadron, but before he even began Luca Angelloni spoke through the communications channel. "Commander, I have a message from the Quarter, unknown space-time anomalies detected at 9' o clock"

At the same time all the pilots turned their heads to that same location and saw as a bright blue and white light appeared for a second, from there a large and bulbous looking ship emerged. The vessel was huge, over 1600 meters in length and it was colored in a light purple almost pink color. All the pilots were surprised at the size and color of the vessel, for they had never seen anything similar.

Immediately Commander Ozma took charge of the situation and of his surprised pilots. "Everyone, return to the Macross and assume a defensive formation, we don't know what where facing, but we are not taking any chances" he ordered to his pilots who immediately returned to the large carrier.

There were a few moments of tense suspense, as the massive vessel moved towards the small fleet, and everyone wondered what it could be. It would only take a number of minutes for them to find out.

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On the bridge of the Macross Quarter its captain Jeffrey Wilder an old war veteran, with a scar on the bridge of his nose and an unkempt beard, dressed in full military garb looked at the holographic projector, which showed the large unknown vessel. The vessel continued its advance towards the small fleet, but made no other actions towards the group.

"Do we have any communication?" asked the Captain to his communications officer.

Ram Hoa a twenty year old long red haired girl answered. "Negative, no communications on any known frequencies"

"Do we have any information from the sensors?"

"Nothing, scans are coming negative. We can see it, and we can target it, but most of our scans are being diverted by some sort of energy field" informed Monica Lange, a dark blonde short haired girl of light complexion, as she studied the large spherical hologram which displayed the information from the main sensors.

"So we are in the blank eh?" asked the Captain without looking at anything, clearly thinking of the situation, and searching for a viable option in this first contact situation.

All of a sudden the systems of the frontier where scrambled for a matter of seconds, but it was enough to startle the whole crew. "Report" ordered the Captain as the information began to filter to his bridge crew.

"Unknown spatial phenomenon originating from the unknown alien vessel" said Ram as she rechecked her communications station.

"All systems coming back on-line sir, the pulse was unexpectedly powerful, but not crippling" said the third bridge crew officer Mina Roshan, a young girl from Indian decent with purple hair, who was overseeing the status readouts of the various stations of the Macross Quarter.

For a few seconds, no one on the bridge spoke, all was quiet, and the tension visible as the alien vessel continued its inexorable advance towards the Macross Quarter and its accompanying fleet. Then a faint signal was received "Captain, I am receiving a faint fold signal originating from the alien vessel. It's on one of the lowest fold frequencies, and we can barely receive it"

"Very well, put it on screen" ordered the Captain and immediately the holographic screen on the bridge of the vessel lighted up, but mot of what was seen was static. "Can' you boost the signal anymore?" asked the Captain looking at the young woman, who was frantically attempting to clear the barely visible signal.

"I'll try Captain" was Ram's only answer, as she moved her fingers over her console in an attempt to clear the image. A few more seconds passed, and slowly but surely the image cleared. What was on the holographic monitor surprised everyone on the bridge.

The image of a large alien in shining gold armor, with a large and ornate head crest, and four mandibles on what appeared to be his face was the image visible on the screen. The entire crew was stunned and could hardly utter a word. For a few seconds the alien seemed to observe them, and uttered a single sentence and the screen was closed.

"Get the signal back!" yelled the Captain, looking at his communication officer, who scrambled to comply with the orders of his superior officer. However that action was short lived.

"Massive energy spike emanating from the alien vessel. Captain, they are preparing to attack!" informed Monica as she looked at her commanding officer.

Without a second thought the Captain began imparting his orders. "Prepare for an immediate engagement. Raise the repulsion fields, and bring all guns to bear. We will not fire the first shot, but we will surely make them pay" said the Captain as the Macross Quarter and its escorting vessels prepared to face the huge vessel, and an enemy they knew nothing about, without realizing the hell that was about to be unleashed upon them.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Ship Master Hoshan J'dutra'ee sat at his command chair in the middle of the command bridge of his cruiser

**Chapter 2: First Blood**

Ship Master Hoshan J'dutra'ee sat at his command chair in the middle of the command bridge of his cruiser. His bridge was wide spaced as where all the bridges of the cruisers of the Covenant armada. All around him the different stations of his vessels shined with their pale purple colors as they hung silently in the air. Around them where several more Shangheili who very dedicatedly observed each and every station, checking and rechecking the several readouts that the holograms showed.

The Ship Master though about his mission to chart this new system and determine if there was any Human presence, or if not to survey the system for a possible forward base in the ongoing war with the Humans. Anger welled up in the Ship Master as he saw how he had fallen and how he was thought of by his superiors. He like every Shangheili thought of battle and the honor to be brought by it to the Covenant and to the family, that he was being used on such a mundane task was a deep mark on his abilities.

As the time passed, his thought moved towards ways to amend such a bad mark on his reputation. However his reverie was soon ended, as a low continuous wail was heard, marking the end of their journey in slipspace, and like all the Covenant vessels the transit was smooth and hardly felt despite the incredible energies that where being managed in order to achieve faster than light speed.

Immediately upon leaving the alternate dimension of slipspace the Ship Master left his seat and walked slowly around the bridge floor, observing various readouts and the reactions of his officers to his presence. Despite being dismissed by the higher command, the Ship Master did make a point of running a well organized bridge.

For a few seconds nothing occurred, nothing was expected in a few seconds anyways. However the Ship Masters complacency was soon ended as his sensors officer spoke. "Ship Master, we have detected a small fleet of ships near the planet"

"Show me" was the Ship Masters order, and soon a holographic view appeared over the bridge. The Ship Master and his subordinates attempted to recognize the vessels that where being shown, but none knew of any vessels that looked like the ones they where observing. "Do the ship memory banks know what vessels are these?" asked the Captain still analyzing the vessels in the screen.

"No Ship Master, the memory banks do not recognize any of the vessels" was the answer from one of the officers.

"Hmmm, initiate a wide spread scan, give me as much information as you can" ordered the Ship Master.

"Yes Ship Master" was the answer from one of his subordinates as he busied himself carrying out his superior officer's orders.

Everyone on the bridge waited for the response from the sensors officer. There was a small amount of tension in the bridge, for none where sure of what to expect from the unknown vessels. Finally the sensors officer spoke. "Scans are coming in Ship Master. They appear to be made of an unknown alloy composition, and have moderate energy signatures, but there is an interference that is disrupting our scans"

The Ship Master pondered the information, and though about the situation. His mission was only to explore for Human presence or to determine the viability of the planets for a forward base; he was unprepared for a first contact situation. Quickly however the Ship Master made his decision. "Open a communication channel, and inform them that they are trespassing on our holy territory. Tell them that they should leave immediately of prepare to be destroyed"

"Yes Ship Master" was the answer from his communications officer as he sent the signal.

The Ship Master waited for his officer, whilst still trying to figure out the vessels that were presented to him. He had seen the vessels of several races that he had come across, though the Covenant was the most powerful force in known space it was far from the only one, and though many races had been subsumed into their holy pact, many still resisted to this day. Despite this the Covenant realized when other means of subsuming other races where necessary and the only large conflict in recent memory was the war of extermination against the humans.

The last thought once again brought the Ship Master anger forth, as he realized that he was failing in the true duties of his people, as the main forces of the Covenant, and that this type of tasks however important where beneath him. He would make sure to make the Humans pay in kind to demonstrate his worth.

Once again the Ship Masters reverie was finished by one of his officers. "Message sent Ship Master, however I am unsure if they have received the message, and am attempting several communications channels" informed the bridge officer.

The Ship Master assented to this information and got closer to the communications officer. "Try to open a communications channel" ordered the Ship Master as he waited for his officer to comply with his order.

Again there was a couple of seconds of waiting to be done as the officer efficiently complied with the Ship Masters orders and everyone on the bridge waited. "Found a channel in the lowest spectra of slipspace Ship Master, it is weak but enough for visual communication"

"Very well, open a channel" ordered the Ship Master stepping to stand in front of a holographic screen that appeared in the center of the bridge.

As the hologram appeared only static could be seen. "Adjust the image" ordered the Ship Master at the communication officer who proceeded to comply. As the seconds passed the image became steadily clearer, and eventually the image was complete.

The Ship Master observed for a couple of seconds, surprise clear in his features, and he observed the screen from one side to the other in disgust. "Prepare for immediate engagement. Bring all weapons to bear on those vessels and close this blasphemous channel" ordered the Ship Master as his crew readied themselves for the battle that was to come.

The Ship Master was devastated, how had he failed to recognize his enemy? How had he been blinded so completely? It didn't matter. All that mattered was that his objectives and his vengeance could both be accomplished in a single action.

In front of him where the strange vessels that where now enemies of his, manned by the race that he had been trained to kill, and with which he could reclaim his honor. In front of him where the vessels of the heretical Humans, and he would delight in their extermination.

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Alto Saotome found himself dodging the attacks of the enemy fighters, which had swarmed from the massive vessel after only a few minutes. He didn't know what had happened or why they were attacking, but he hated the situation very much.

"Damn, what the hell did we do to piss these guys off?" was Alto's comment over the intercom channel as he evaded yet another blue pulse which almost scrapped his fighter.

"It doesn't matter now, just concentrate and bring them down" said Lee Ozma through the channel as his Gatling rifle fired at one of the fighters, with a minimal effect. "Damn these bastards are shielded" said the Commander as he saw the ripples of the energy shield as his shots impacted on the strange bulbous craft which were attacking them. "Luca, do you have any readings on these bandits?" asked the Commander as he poured more bullet rounds into his opponent.

"Hay, they have an energy shield, but it doesn't appear to be very strong, suggest using the Battroid lasers, they appear to be weak against energy weapons" said Luca Angelloni from his green Messiah as he dodged yet another group of enemies who were trying to shoot him down.

"Well, you don't have to tell me twice" was Alto's response as his fighter craft transformed swiftly into a giant robot, and started to fire the laser blasters on the sides of his head at the nearest enemy. Soon the shields where down and then he changed to his Gatling rifle, finishing the job.

All over the fighters of the Macross Quarter and its accompanying vessels were tied in a mad dogfight against the nimble and fast bulbous fighters. The battle was a massive chaos as the energy plumes of the plasma engines in the fighter's left dizzying array of lights that was beautiful to the sight despite its deadly nature.

The enemy crafts where shaped like a large teardrop with an indentation in the middle. From this teardrop in the middle they charged energy and launched it at the Human fighters, which tried to dodge them, only to have them follow them. From underneath the main gun the enemy fighters spewed lethal pulses of blue energy, which created heavy scorch marks even on the advanced energy absorbing armor of the Human fighters.

To further the problems, their enemies had some type of energy barrier around them that protected them from the attacks of their weapons. Even though the Human fighters were capable of scoring direct hits on the enemy fighters a large number of their shots where rendered useless as their shields absorbed the damage and left the fighters craft unscathed.

Further into the battlefield Alto could see the small battle fleet that they had carried them to this damnable place being shot at by the large enemy craft. Alto saw how the macros Quarter and its escorting vessels fired shot after shot into the enemy vessel. Again and again the large bulbous vessel was hit by the energy beams of the multiple batteries of the fleet and just like the fighter craft the shots where rendered useless as the same energy barrier absorbed the damage being dealt to it.

Then enemy vessel however was not idle and it fired larger versions of the fighter craft blue energy orbs, which rapidly raced in the direction of the Macross Quarter and its attending fleet. Fortunately however these aliens where not the only vessels to posses the technology for creating energy shields, and though visibly moved by the powerful energies brought to bear by the enemy vessel the Macross Quarter and its attending fleet held their places and continued the retaliatory strikes against the alien vessel.

The same was not true though of the fighter squadron to which Alto was currently assigned, as the enemy fighters came in large numbers and attempted to overpower them. The enemy fighters moved in formations of ten, and attacked specific enemies attempting to isolate an enemy and move on to the next target, overwhelming the fighter with superior numbers.

So far it was being very effective as several NUNS fighters had been overwhelmed and destroyed with overwhelming power that overpowered the energy conversion armor of the human fighter craft. And now it was Alto who was on the business end of such an attack squadron.

"Damn, these bastards just won't stop" he said as he maneuvered his fighter trying to avoid the massed weapons fire that was being directed against him.

"Just keep them like that" sounded the voice of Michael Blanc through the communications system as Alto raced to keep from being vaporized by the continuous stream of energy fire. For Alto it felt like an eternity as he avoided numerous shots one after the other, but he was well rewarded as less than five seconds later five of the pursuing fighters where vaporized as high speed bullets pierced through their shields and armor.

As soon as the number of his pursuers was significantly diminished Alto transformed his VF 25 Messiah into its combat robot mode and began to wipe out the rest of the squadron which was trying to return to formation after the loss of their five comrades. In this situation alto let loose with his Gatling rifle and the pulse lasers located on the robots head and effectively dispatched the other five fighters.

Alto then moved his fighter towards the battle fleet, closing in on the swarms of fighters that where harrying the rest of the warships. Then it happened, from the large vessel what appeared as a beam of pure light impacted on one of the NUNS carriers. The carrier's shields flared for a couple of second trying to protect the ship from the brutal onslaught that the beam of energy was imparting. Still it was a useless action as the shields where quickly overwhelmed and the ship was quickly carved in half by the brutal energy beam fired by the large vessel they where currently fighting.

The whole squadron saw the destruction, and though it was a normal occurrence, it was always disconcerting, especially now that their resources where so stretched. "Everyone finish these fighters off, we have to assist the fleet with the giant vessel" ordered Commander Ozma through the communications channel even as he raced towards the offending fighters harrying the fleet.

A series of Rogers was all that was heard through the communication channel as the VF 25's and the VF 171's moved to intercept the enemy attempting to destroy the fleet.

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"Captain the _New Providence _has just been sunk" informed Monica Lange as she reviewed the information on the large spherical holographic projection that was the main radar display of the Macross Quarter.

"Then we will have to finish this fast won't we Captain?" Bobby Margot the helmsman of the Macross Quarter looking rather calm despite the seriousness of the situation.

The Captain turned to look at Bobby and smiled. "Yes we will, won't we?" said the Captain. "Very well, let's finish this. Prepare to fire the main cannon, repulsion field to maximum" ordered the Captain and the whole crew prepared for what was to come. "All stations transform"

A massive tremor was almost immediately felt by the crew, who remained calm despite the severe movement and continued to monitor the systems of the ship. No one was surprised, for this was something that had been done many times before.

Outside the entire shape of the 400 meter long vessel began to change, its back thrusters moved to a lower part and became two feet. The center of the vessel moved upward on the structure and became a torso and a head where the bridge was housed. Finally the large gun on the left side opened and became the left arm, while the flight deck became a right arm.

The enemy attacked stopped for a second, and at this point the giant vessel moved the entirety of the flight deck to the back of the gigantic robot that had been formed during the transformation of the vessel, and held the main gun in its two gigantic arms.

"Transformation successful Captain" announced the purple haired Mina Roshan looking very confidently to the Captain.

"Very well, target the alien vessel and show them our power" ordered the Captain as he stood from his chair.

"Roger that" was Bobby's answer as he tied his green bandana over his head, and grappling the controls tighter, and as he moved so did the gigantic robot that was the Macross Quarter. The Robot accelerated towards the alien vessel that had stopped firing, and aligned its gigantic cannon at the huge alien vessel.

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On board his cruiser Ship Master Hoshan J'dutra'ee observed the battle against these new Human vessel with growing anger and frustration. Like always the Humans had chosen to stay and fight, hoping to kill a few more Covenant, what foolishness that was had been the Ship Masters thoughts as the battle began.

As usual he sent his fighter squadrons against the Humans, hoping to tie in their fighters and vessels while his own cruiser rained down plasma fire on the infidels. The fleet arrayed against him was a small one, even for Human standards, but that had never mattered to the Ship Master, all that had mattered was that here where new Human vessels that dared oppose him even though he thought they knew they were going towards their deaths.

As the battle began in earnest his fighters engaged the Human craft, and forced them to divert their attention from the slaughter he was about to unleash on these puny and heretical Human craft. Or so he had thought, however as soon as the battle had began everything started to go completely wrong.

The Ship Master had expected the Humans to send countless swarms of their missiles at him, only to have them snuffed out of the sky by his pin-point lasers and laugh at the idiocy of their tactics. He had expected them to open fire with their ridiculous electromagnetic accelerator weapons and be easily dispelled by his shields. Never had he expected the Humans to retaliate with energy weapons, and never in such a huge barrage. The shields of his cruiser though powerful could not stand to such a barrage for long, and thus he decided that he would simply eliminate them like the vermin they where, so he ordered that all the plasma torpedo batteries open fire. He did not wish to abuse of his ships systems by using his energy projectors and lowering his shields when they were being pounded by these new human vessels.

As the bombardment of the Humans began another problem surfaced, these Human vessels where unlike any they had ever faced before. Normally under the assault of his plasma torpedoes Human vessels would cowardly try to evade his weapons in order to try and distribute the damage that they were receiving and continue fighting a little longer while they were massacred. It was futile the Ship Master knew, for his holy instruments of destruction could follow the Human vessels and also because they did not posses any shields, thus all of his shots where always lethal to the fragile Human vessels, especially some of this size.'

However unlike his expectations these Human vessels never veered away from his weapons. Instead they stubbornly held their position and just as the Ship Master tasted the sweet scent of victory the Humans had managed to strip it from him.

The plasma torpedoes impacted on the small Human vessels with their deadly fury and as the energy was dispersed the Ship Master saw in astonishment how they faint outline of a green energy barrier was spread over the vessels that had received the onslaught of his weapons, and continued to rain down their fire upon him like rain falling during a tropical storm.

His fighters were also not doing as well as he had expected. Normally the Human fighters though powerful and more than capable of facing his own seraphs in battle where usually destroyed when faced with superior numbers such as was occurring now. However once again these new Human vessels and their fighters managed to take his sweet revenge from them and continued to defy them by decimating his fighter squadrons.

Of the one hundred fighters that he had sent against the over forty fighters that his vessel had detected, the Humans had managed to thin down their number to the point where they were now on equal terms and constantly diminishing. In short the battle was going extremely wrong. It was then that the Ship Master decided to end the fight once and for all; he would have his honor back one way or another.

"Charge the main energy projector and target the carrier on the right side of their formation" ordered the Ship Master as he continued to oversee the failing engagement.

"Ship Master, if we activate the energy projector we will be defenseless" said one of the bridge officers.

The Ship Master glared at the officer who spoke against his orders. "Do as I say, and never again question my commands" said the Ship Master in a very stern voice at the subaltern, who retreated to his station. "Let me clarify then, charge the energy projector eighty percent capacity. That should leave our shields and weapons operational and still give us plenty of time to recharge and eliminate these heretics"

The rest of the bridge crew began to follow the orders of their Ship Master, and soon the lights where lowered, a sign that the energy projector was charging up. "Energy projector charged as per your instructions Ship Master" informed another of the bridge officers.

"Very well, target the ship and fire" ordered the Ship Master and just as soon a giant lance of energy surged towards one of the Human vessels which was soon destroyed. The Ship Master savored his triumph over this new force of Humans; once again the Covenant forces had demonstrated their superiority over these backwards barbarians.

"Recharge the energy projector and target the next vessel" announced the Ship Master as he rejoiced in his victory over the heretical Humans. However his celebration was cut short.

"Ship Master, massive energy surge from the largest vessel, its.. its"

"It is what officer?" asked the Ship Master to the scared officer who looked at the screen in sheer astonishment.

The officer looked at his Ship Master and simply pointed at the screen with his long triple fingered hand. The Ship Master followed his subordinates hand and as soon as his silted reptilian eyes fixed themselves on the screen hovering over him his four jaws threatened to fall to the floor. "By the sacred rings what is that vessel doing?" asked the stupefied Ship Master as the large vessel transformed itself from a strangely shaped vessel into what could best be described as a giant robot.

As the vessel completed its transformation the entire crew was entranced by the strange occurrence happening in front of their eyes, all of them astonished at what was happening and barely believing it. "By the prophets, why would they do that?" asked once again the Ship Master as vessel once again surprised them by very quickly placing the large flat metal bed on its apparent left arm behind its back and grappling the elongated pyramid on the right arm with both hands before pointing it at the large vessel.

"Massive energy reading detected from the vessel which just transformed" informed one of the officers who had managed to throw off his stupor at the event taking place and managed to return to his post.

This immediately alerted the Ship Master, who quickly reached the officer who had managed to avert him from his stupefied state. "What?"

"Ship Master the enemy vessel is charging some sort of weapon it's going to fire at us" said the surprised officer.

"Impossible, Humans don't posses that type of technology" said the Ship Master even as the readings from the holographic console showed the information right in front of him to see. "Quickly, prepare a slipspace pod with the information of this battle to Admiral Xytan 'Jar Watrinee" ordered the alarmed Ship Master as he realized what was going to happen. "May the Forerunners protect us" where the last words of the Ship Master, as his vessel was engulfed by a powerful quantum singularity.

Just before the massive attack engulfed the large cruiser, a small light purple pod left the cruiser and disappeared from normal space with its precious cargo, even as the vessel which had berthed it was twisted in impossible ways and exploded.

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"Main gun fire!" ordered Captain Wilder, as the charge sequence for the Quantum Displacement cannon finished. The large gun in the hands of the giant robot glowed a bright red color and energy flowed through the many generators, as the weapon ignited and a massive red blast was sent towards the giant vessel.

The red blast impacted the vessel and for a fraction of a second it appeared as if the shields where going to hold just as they had against the rest of the weapons directed at it. But as no sooner had the crew of the Macross Quarter believed their attack had failed, that the energy blast ripped the vessel from fore to stern.

For another fraction of a second it seemed as though that was all that was going to happen, but then the brutal gravity wave created by the small black hole impacted the ship and the gigantic vessel began to twist and turn in ways it was never meant to. All over the ships structure bulges appeared and glowed a deep red, unable to explode due to the gravity that was engulfing them, but as soon as the gravity wave passed the entire vessel exploded in a giant display of sparks and fireworks as the small pockets of the ship that remained where sent in different directions.

"Vessel completely destroyed Captain" informed the bright blonde haired girl in charge of the sensor of the Macross Quarter.

"Good, mop up the remaining fighters, and capture some if possible, make a sweep of the area and then well depart, this is not a safe place to be" ordered the Captain as he pulled his cap over his eyes and appeared to go to sleep.

"Roger" was the answer of the crew as they proceeded to follow their Captains orders.

"Things are only going to get harder from here on out" said the Captain, making the whole bridge crew turn to look at him, while he remained impassive in his chair.

Hours later the last of the enemy fighters had either been destroyed or incapacitated, and a small number of fighters had been recovered. The ships finished their survey of the system and once again opened the purple-pink vortex that signaled a fold jump, and with a scattering of yellow glowing particles the small fleet was gone.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Ranka Lee's green hair swayed behind her as she ran through the streets of the Island 1 main colony ship of the Frontier fleet

**Chapter 3: Realizations, Encounters and Plots**

Ranka Lee's green hair swayed behind her as she ran through the streets of the Island 1 main colony ship of the Frontier fleet. She went from one street corner to the next searching for her small green pet, which she had not seen since the fold jump days earlier, and had been restricted to her house since then due to the deplorable state of the main city and its adjoining convoy.

As she ran at a light pace, she observed, always looking underneath every piece of ruble, and every garbage can, trying to find her small little green pet. She was very worried for her little friend. But at the same time as she looked for her small friend, she observed the city around her.

During the seventh long range space fold jump she had been in the Macross Quarter as it piggybacked in the fold jump of the huge Frontier fleet, and she was secured inside the massive Koenig Monster 6, operated by the SMS. Her singing had saved the lives of many that day, as she had allowed the outnumbered and nearly defenseless Frontier fleet to defeat the Vajra attackers, who where immune to most of the weapons in the arsenal of the Frontier.

However she remembered the reason why the city was in such a deplorable state, as she had experienced the same while inside the massive behemoth robot. Shortly after the jump had initiated massive disturbances in fold space had rocked the entire convoy and its accompanying fleet of ships, she remembered how helpless she felt as she was tossed inside her own seat as the entire robot tumbled from side to side.

However she had passed out shortly after it had begun because the rocking of the giant robot had forced her head to hit the head rest with too much force and she blanked out. She woke up hours later as Canaria Bernstein the dark skinned pilot of the Koenig Monster and medic of the SMS woke her up. She remembered how she looked out of the window of the massive robot and felt a huge amount of fear and desperation at the deplorable state of the Island 1.

From her vantage point she saw the gigantic transparent metal structure cracked in multiple places, and fires all over the city inside the massive dome. The rest of the twenty five islands trailing the massive dome of the main city where in a similar state, as their massive transparent coverings where also cracked, and in many cases the metal shells which where supposed to protect the fragile material where bent out of shape or simply gone, floating in space alongside their original vessels.

The ships that she saw from her vantage point where in no better shape. Many of the warships where red where they had apparently exploded from damage suffered during the rough transition through fold space. Other ships where simply floating in space, no sign of life in their engines, and bodies floated all around these vessels. The scene was like one of the nightmares or bad memories she sometimes suffered from, but now instead of flashes of the past these where images in her present and all too real.

While the scene from space was horrible it paled in comparison to the destruction she observed when she had first returned to Island 1. The buildings in ruins, fires uncontrolled all over the city, it was a scene from the most horrible holo-movies she had ever seen, and it was in front of her very eyes. She cried for a long time in her home where she had been secluded for her own protection.

Worst of all was that the man of her dreams was forced to leave almost as soon as she had arrived at this hellish version of her world. Alto Saotome and the rest of the SMS had left in an important mission for the Frontier, in order to try and save it from the damage suffered during the tragic space fold jump.

She missed him very much, because she had come to rely very much on him, and had begun to love him, why she wasn't truly sure yet, but she knew that he was the man for her and his absence greatly saddened her. Then came the loss of the only other being she had come to think of in such a manner of need. Not to the same extent of Alto, but it was very important to her nonetheless, and thus the reason she was now looking all over the destroyed city in order to find it.

She continued to search the city, until she arrived at a small alley way. There she found one person that she felt was important to her, but she couldn't place the true reason why. There stood Brera Stern the pilot of the Galaxy squadron that currently made their home in the Frontier, looking over a garbage can.

She looked at him with a sense of mischief, wanting to know what he was doing. Suddenly a cat jumped from inside the garbage can, and the calm pilot flinched for a second as the cat jumped at him, only to catch him in mid air with his cyberneticaly enhanced reflexes. She couldn't contain herself, she started laughing, trying to stifle the impulse that suddenly came over her.

"What do you find so amusing?" was Brera Stern's emotionless question at the young girl who tried and miserably failed to contain her laughter.

"It's just that I've never seen you flinch hihihi" she said still trying to contain her laughter.

She felt his eyes on her, and tried to stop laughing, but she found it impossible, as she continued to remember his actions of just a few moments ago. For a few moments she continued giggling under Brera's watchful gaze, and was soon able to at least stop it for long enough to look at him.

Brera Stern was a good looking man, tall some six feet tall, with fair body shape. Fit, but not too built, a fact that hid his cyberneticaly enhanced musculature, that made him far faster than any person and far stronger as well. He had blond hair, and strange purple/red eyes, possibly another cybernetic enhancement, with a matching colored dress, that hugged his figure and carried a harmonica tied to a small string that hung from his neck.

Ranka looked at Brera for a couple of seconds, realizing once again how nice he looked, if it wasn't for Alto she probably would have fallen for this man she realized. However there was also another feeling that she was not entirely conscious and at the same time made the previous feeling impossible, she couldn't put her finger on it, but as good looking and nice as Brera was, she found that even without Alto she could have never made the connection she felt for the fair looking man, who looked almost like a woman.

"What are you doing here anyway?" asked Brera, bringing her down from her flying thoughts.

She looked at Brera once more. Ever since she had known him he had always been nice around her, so she decided that asking him wouldn't give her any problems even though what she was doing was technically wrong. "My pet Ai-kun left me a couple of days ago, and I've been searching for him" she said in a cheerful tone.

She saw that Brera was observing her, and for a moment thought that she would get into trouble, but as soon as the thought had come it had been washed away. "Would you like me to help you look for him?" asked Brera, in a low but sincere tone.

She felt truly happy at those words, and simply allowed herself to be. "Really?" she asked, and Brera nodded. "Thank you very much Brera-san" she said and launched herself at him throwing him of balance.

They stayed like that for a few moments and soon left, to search for Ranka's missing pet. As they made their way around the city they continued to see the devastation that had been sustained because of the disastrous jump, but at the same time they also saw the signs of the reconstruction that was taking place, as people attempted to regain a sense of normality to their existence and rebuild what had been lost.

This brought joy to Ranka who could still see the horrible images of the city in flames in her mind, a thought that always saddened her. This was mirrored in her face, a fact that was not lost to the enhanced eyes of Brera Stern. "Is there something bothering you?" he asked again in her low but sincere tone.

Ranka looked at the city for a few seconds then turned to Brera. "Yes, I remember the first time I came back to the city after the jump, there was fire everywhere" she said lowering her face. "Despite the reconstruction efforts I can still see that place, and I don't like it, I am thankful that they are able to rebuild it" she said.

Brera looked at her, with a sad expression on his face. "Only so much can be repaired with the resources we currently have" he said. "If we don't find the necessary resources to repair the fleet, we may not have much time left".

Ranka was visibly taken back by such a revelation, but soon composed herself. It was hard to hear it, but it did not surprise her after what she had seen from space. "Is that why Alto and the others had to leave so suddenly?" she asked with a sad face.

A nod was the only answer she got from the stoic pilot. This brought sadness to her heart, but she realized it made sense another question came to her mind. "Do you know when everyone will be back?"

Brera looked out into the city from the hill they had just reached. "I don't know, although the reports state that they should be on their way here by now".

This brought great joy to Ranka, as she realized that soon she may be able to see the man that she cared for. "Thank you Brera-san" she said as she hugged him, feeling much better than she had before. "I hope that they can find what we need I don't want to see anymore suffering or destruction".

Once again Brera nodded, but Ranka realized that he had not told her everything and that he had kept something for himself. She chosen not to press him on it, for now she was just happy that she would soon see the man that she wished to be with, and that was all that was important. For the next several hours they continued searching for Ranka's pet until it was late, then she said goodbye to Brera and set for her home.

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Back at the Macross Quarter, the crew gathered around the three enemy fighters that had been captured, and Alto Saotome looked in amazement at the strange tear drop shape of the enemy fighter, also admiring the choice of colors for the skin. Deep blue-purple and light violet pink adorned the strange hostile craft that sat in the Quarters hangar bay underneath the main launch deck.

As he observed the craft, several technicians of the Macross Quarter where moving different types of equipment over the captured craft in an attempt to open the strange vessel, and peek inside the craft. At his side was his blonde haired friend Michael Blanc, who looked seriously at the strange looking craft.

"Interesting and elegant design, very deceptive" commented Michael as both of them observed the strange craft.

"Yeah, wonder why they started attacking us all of a sudden" was Alto's comments as the technicians continued looking over the strange vessels.

"I heard there was a communication with the Captain. Apparently the alien Commander of the vessel only looked over the bridge crew, and then closed the channel, only to initiate hostilities after that" said Michael as he placed his hand under his chin in a thoughtful manner. "Maybe it was because we are humans" said Michael in a much lower tone of voice.

Alto looked surprised at his friend for a second. "Are you saying that they attacked us just for who we are? That's the stupidest reason I've ever heard of, even the Zentraedi at least had the SDF-1 as an excuse for an attack" said Alto more perturbed than angry.

For a few seconds Michael didn't say anything, and there was an uncomfortable silence between the two friends. "You are right, but who knows how these aliens think. Until we get any more information it's impossible to know what their true motives are"

Alto looked at the ground, his previous anger gone. What Michael said was absolutely right, who knew what reasons these aliens had, or even if they had a true reason and where not simply genocidal. His train of thought however was soon forgotten as a hiss was heard from one of the craft.

Michael and Alto looked at the strange alien vessel as a section of it elevated and the craft began to open. All of the present looked to see what was inside, what they saw surprised them all.

Inside was a large alien, encased in a strange blue vest, with a strangely shaped helmet. It appeared to be immobile as the technicians moved around it. For a few minutes the technicians hustled around the large alien, and began to extract him from his fighter, but barely had they taken him of the harness that held him to his fighter that the alien began to move.

For a few seconds Alto and the rest observed as the alien moved groggily as if taking in his surroundings, and then an inhuman scream was heard. Everyone was surprised at the pitch level of the screams, and covered their ears due to the unexpected volume of the feral scream. However no sooner had they recovered from the unexpected scream that they saw as the two technicians fell over their bodies a charred mess as the alien fired them with a strange purple weapon.

The alien then jumped from his fighter with almost inhuman strength and agility, which took the entire flight crew by surprise, and began to fire from his strange weapon blue energy orbs, which quickly reduced a number of the present to scorching corpses.

Alto and Michael at this sight reacted immediately and bolted for their VF-25's which where nearby, as they jumped into their fighters, they saw as the alien continued to fire on the crew that had dispersed and was seeking cover.

"Alto, you flank him from the right side, I will try and keep him pinned for you" was Michaels recommendation as they where encased in their EX-Gear frame, and took out their heavy bore beam rifles from their fighter.

Alto immediately bolted for the other side of the hangar, boosted by his flight capable EX-Gear he quickly moved to the other side of the hangar, as the alien poured fire on him. He felt the heat from the aliens powerful energy bolts as they impacted near him leaving melted alloy marks on the fighters and the equipment they impacted on.

Fortunately for him the pressure was soon taken from him as Michael began firing at the alien from the other side, giving Alto and the rest of the crew some much needed breathing room from the alien's onslaught.

The alien however was unfazed, as a blue shimmer shone around him and he turned to look at his assailant, who continued to pour fire on him. The alien took aim, and was about to open fire, when a series of blows impacted on him, making blue shimmer appear with more intensity. The alien immediately took cover behind a few crates that where near his craft.

Alto turned with his EX-Gear, and poured fire on the alien who stood trying to fire on Michael, but was stopped, as Commander Ozma Lee let off with a barrage of fire and forced the alien to take cover. From his vantage point at the right side of the alien he was able to see the alien as he took cover and poked shots at his assailants, but his accuracy was clearly shaken by the onslaught that was pouring on him.

Alto saw an opening and trained his weapon on the covering alien, letting of with a barrage of high energy shots that sprayed the alien. For a few shots the strange barrier held and the alien tried to move, however the barrier soon fell, and the alien was hit multiple times, falling onto the ground just as he was bolting from his attacker. With a loud clang on the metal floor the massive alien fell to the ground, without moving.

For a few seconds afterwards the entire crew continued to observe the alien, expecting him to get up and continue his assault; however when the alien failed to move Ozma Lee was the first to get up from his cover. "Is everyone alright?" he yelled to everyone.

"We have multiple dead Commander, but otherwise the rest of the crew seems to be fine" said one of the crew members who had bolted to try and see who of those who where hit by the aliens weapons where alive.

"Get working on those other two fighters, I don't want any surprises this time" ordered Ozma Lee to several technicians around him, who saluted and quickly went to the other two fighters.

Alto neared the alien, and joined the rest of the staff nearby. "That was totally unexpected" was Michael's voice, who observed the alien remains with a hard expression.

"Yeah, no kidding, damn things have shields just like their fighters" said Alto as he too observed the alien in rage.

"You two, go to the other two craft, and make sure that those things don't get the chance to kill any more" ordered Commander Ozma Lee to Alto and Michael, who saluted and left. "Incapacitate them if possible, I want some answers, but kill them if you can't. We've had enough dead for one day" finished the Commander from his position near the alien as he looked at the two of them.

Alto and Michael looked at each other and accepted. The other two ships proved to be far more of a problem, as both of the other pilots had woken up due to the commotion created by the first pilot. One of the alien pilots got out of his fighter, and attempted to take with him as many as he could, but he was quickly gunned down by the SMS crew. The other one tried to self detonate his fighter, but was stopped by the SMS crew, who managed to open the cockpit, restrained the last alien pilot, by shooting him on his shoulders just before he was able to send the fighters reactor into critical overload.

Alto observed the damage done by the alien pilots, ten crew members where little more than smoking corpses, and the hangar bay and several fighters had multiple scorch marks where the alien's weapons had impacted. Alto felt rage boiling in him as he looked at the damage and bowed to not allow anything like this to happen ever again before retreating to his quarters.

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Leon Mishima sat at his office, reading the latest reports that where piled on his desk. It was late at night, but that did not bother him in the least, he had many businesses that he needed to ponder of, not the least of which where his plans to assume control of the Frontier.

Originally he had planned to dispose of the President after the celebration following the end of the seventh space fold jump. However that plan had been thrown out the window after the disastrous events of the unfortunate jump. The President had hardly left a secure location since the incident, thus no viable option had presented itself in that time, a matter that troubled him very much, for he realized that his time was running out and he would be forced to make his move sooner or later. However now was not the right time.

That brought him to his second problem, one more immediate. The Frontiers resources where stretched to their limits, and of the six groups sent to survey several systems in the vicinity, only one had reported findings of sufficient interest to warrant the use of even more precious resources to begin the lengthy repair process of the entire convoy, and that would buy them a couple more months at the most.

Another problem had surfaced, and once again the SMS was at the front of such events. Their report indicated that the system they where sent to survey had promise for a future endeavor, as it possessed abundant amounts of usable resources for the repairs of the Frontier and its accompanying ships. However they had encountered a hostile alien race, which had opened fire on them for no apparent reason.

This sent a disturbing thought to Leon, as he wondered what they where getting themselves into. It was bad enough with the Vajra up until now, but now they where facing a new opponent, of which they knew next to nothing. The report from the SMS indicated that they had encountered an alien vessel the size of the Battle Frontier, with weaponry that could match their own and overwhelm their defenses. The only silver lightning was that they appeared to be in an even footing when outnumbering the enemy vessel, but Leon wondered how many of these vessels the enemy possessed.

A report of the battle followed and it specified that the Quarter had managed to capture three enemy craft and restrain one of their pilots. The other two where eliminated when they probed to be too hostile to be restrained. This was a great accomplishment, especially considering the damage that just one of them had caused, and even then only with hand held weapons.

Leon realized that their own ground based weaponry was sufficient for facing these enemies, but the alien weapons where still superior to those the fleet possessed, at least on a ground based level. Furthermore the preliminary examinations of the enemy craft revealed that they where extremely advanced, possessing systems that where completely unknown to the technicians who had begun the process of analyzing the enemy craft. Furthermore, Leon realized that considering the resource problems faced by the fleet any benefits gained from studying these alien craft would take years to develop, if they had that time.

Mishima sighed, realizing how desperate their situation was. The resources they had managed to find, where too small for the necessary overhaul needed to return the fleet to a self sustaining basis, until they could find a suitable planet, and even now that seemed an impossibility. Leon wasn't sure why, but he had the feeling that this encounter, coincidental as it may have been was just the tip of the iceberg of the problems that where ahead of them, something about the way it had all started told him that there was far more going on that any of them realized, and that that knowledge was needed and fast if the convoy was to survive.

Furthermore he had not heard from Miss O'Connor in quite some time, this greatly bothered him, as most of his moves had been based on her suggestions. He was no fool and he realized that her goals and his where completely incompatible, but at the moment he realized that if he was to complete his plans and hopefully survive the storm that was coming it would require that he worked with her for a time.

Leon stopped his musings as the telephone in his office began ringing. With a slow move Leon pressed the button and spoke. "This is Mishima"

"So _formal, I thought you would be more casual to one of your associates_" said the voice low and nice voice of Grace O'Connor through the speakers of the telephone. "_There is much we need to discuss, switch to an encrypted channel_"

Leon pressed another button on the telephone. "It has been a long time, I gather that you have been reviewing the information you have?" he asked in a formal tone.

"_Yes, and it seems that we may have more problems than I could have ever predicted_"

"Are you referring to the loss of the intergalactic fold communication network? Or to the new enemies that seem to have appeared, even as we lost our old ones?" asked Mishima, gauging every word that was spoken to and by his necessary but dangerous ally.

For a moment the telephone went quiet, and Mishima thought that she had finished the conversation without giving an answer to his questions, but soon his partner was once again talking. "_Both, the loss of the fold network may just be because we are simply outside of its expected range. Nonetheless we must attempt to regain communications with Earth whether we want it or not for our future plans, we may need them to face this new enemy. Which brings me to the topic of this new adversary we must secure their technology at all costs as soon as possible_"

Mishima thought of his answer very carefully, he was threading on a thin line as it was. To bring the Earth into the picture would most likely end with his execution, but Miss O'Connor was right, they where right now threading on very thin ice and no immediate solution had been found. "Have your calculations taken into account how much Earth's involvement would impact our plans?"

"_Yes, if correctly timed we may both reach our objectives successfully. However the timing to involve the Earth will be critical I will send you a more detailed schedule. But for now this new enemy requires our full attention_" sounded the certain voice of Grace O'Connor, assured of her own speculations. "_You've read the reports, and at the moment we have slightly more than no information on this new adversary. We need to learn as much as we possibly can as fast as possible, my calculations are incomplete, but they hint at a great conflict ahead of us if the size of the enemy vessel is to be any indication of the strength of this new adversary"_

Leon Mishima already suspected as much, the report was missing in details, maybe due to the lack of them to begin with, but he realized that this would not be the last they would see of this new enemy. Still the matter of resources was essential if they where to attempt to face this new danger without resorting to Earth. "I must stress that our resource situation at the moment is critical at best, and so far we have been unable to find the required resources to attain sustainability in the foreseeable future. I understand and agree with your emphasis on this new enemy, but until we obtain the resources necessary for our own sustainability it would be wise not to spend them even on such a critical matter" Mishima stopped for just a second, allowing Miss O'Connor to take note of his words. "I don't think that I need to remind you that if we lose the frontier, no matter how much knowledge we posses it will be useless"

"_Your point is valid. Still divert as many resources to this endeavor as possible, both goals are important, but without the information required we will be unable to defend ourselves and the rest of our plans will be terminated. I shall have my puppet try and gather information for us. Good day Mr. Mishima_" was the last comment by Miss O'Connor as the long note played signaling that the communication had been terminated.

Leon looked outside of his building and hoped that they would have enough time for their endeavors to conclude successfully. Still Earth had been mentioned and he did not like that thought. If Earth got involved they may find out about his conspiration and bring him down, unless he was able to assume control before that happened. However at the moment finding the resources necessary to save the convoy was far more pressing and he would need to acquire a number of the alien craft currently in the hands of the SMS.

He pressed a button on his telephone and got to work on both accounts. With any luck he would be able to accomplish his ambitions in a short amount of time and take care of the one pest that remained.

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Admiral Xytan 'Jar Watrinee sat at his office on the massive space station/capital of the glorious Covenant. It was an office lavished according to his station, with elegant decorations of various sacred relics, as well as trinkets that served to create and air of purity to his personal sanctuary on the most holy of places in the vast empire.

This was a sight he was very used to, as every part of the room had been decorated according to his precise command in order to create the type of atmosphere he desired, one where whoever was present felt in awe of himself. He realized that this was against many of the teachings of piety professed by his religion, but he entertained the notion regardless, even against the unspoken wishes of some of the Prophets, who tolerated such eccentricities and excesses only due to his continuous victories against the barbaric Humans.

The Humans the Admiral thought where vermin who where beneath them in every way, of this there was no doubt. Still he had come to admire their courage and resolve as they faced their inevitable death. The Humans showed no signs of giving up no matter how hard he attacked or how ruthless his tactics became and for that they had gained his respect, for he was not without honor, and the Humans in their dedicated defiance of the inevitable showed honor of which the Admiral was a little jealous.

This was another aspect that the Prophets did not enjoy of him the Admiral mussed, that he respected these vermin even as they preached their utter hatred for these barbarians. The Prophets where their guiding light, of this there was no doubt, but they had no real stomach for war and no respect for a worthy foe, that the Humans had managed to hold out so long under the onslaught he had unleashed upon them was a testament to the strength he had come to accept.

The Humans where an enigma for him, they knew that their weapons and technology where not equal to their own, and yet they still kept fighting no matter how many vessels or how many planets he destroyed. It mattered not, for they always emerged victorious, their superior technology ensured that each and every time. Or so he thought until now.

He sat in his spacious office looking at the display of the battle footage of the Cruiser of Ship Master Hoshan J'dutra'ee, who had been sent to survey a system in their conquest path. The vessel had orders to asses if there was a Human presence and report on it or if there wasn't to asses the system for a future forward base of operations. The mission was considered a standard mission in these times, but the footage in front of him was anything but.

The Admiral observed the footage with rapt attention. He observed the alien looking vessels which where so different yet so similar to those used by the Humans, and where it not for the small record of communication with Humans, inadvertedly as it may have been, he would have thought the vessels of a new alien species. But when the faces of Humans where observed on the bridge of the vessel the Admiral was very surprised. What followed afterwards however was far more difficult to believe.

Unlike the Human vessels which he had faced many times in the past these new vessels possessed technologies that where not known on Human vessels. Energy barriers and energy weapons, such technologies where beyond the humans as far as he knew, yet these new Human vessel where using them.

There was however something else that the Admiral observed. These Humans had not even flinched when the attack had began as was normal for Human vessels attempting to avoid their weapons, nor had they relented the barrage once it had began. There was something about these vessels that suggested that they where not simply new, but something else entirely, what it was the Admiral could not point his finger at, until realization dawned on him later.

After the Cruiser had fired its main energy projector and devastated one of the new Human vessels, the lead ship had transformed its shape, from a regular vessel to a humanoid form. This surprised the Admiral, for it was completely unexpected, but it also cemented the feeling he had had during the whole engagement. These Humans where not in league with the Humans he knew about, and maybe they where a lost colony of the Humans. The subsequent destruction of the Cruiser was surprising, as was the method employed, if the readings attached to the video where to be believed, their cruisers would not survive a direct blast from such a weapon even at full power, and anything smaller would be completely obliterated.

That the Humans possessed such technology troubled the Admiral. How many of these vessels did these new Humans have? How many worlds did they posses? Where they in contact with the Humans he new about? So many questions and all of them very troubling, for a few minutes the Admiral thought about the video he had observed and decided that this needed to be dealt with as soon as possible before the other Humans could benefit from this lost Human colonies technologies and change the balance of the war.

Without a second thought the Admiral bolted from his chair and headed out of the office. His destination was the chamber of the Hierarchs. He knew that he didn't really need much of the usual persuading necessary to obtain what he wanted, this video was proof enough and once the Hierarchs observed it they would authorize whatever actions he deemed necessary. Many scenarios appeared in his mind of the battles ahead and possible ways of dealing with them, the Admiral would eliminate this threat one way or another.

TBC


End file.
